Archives for August, 2009

Blue Barnhouse Letterpress is simply awesome. I was idly coveting these classy anatomical heart thank-you cards when I discovered they actually have a special card FOR COLONOSCOPIES: No, not even letterpress can make these brutal (and hopefully fictitious) colonoscopy implements “classy.” But that’s not stopping me from blogging it.

The Science and Entertainment Exchange blog has an interesting post up about artist Willard Wigan, who creates sculptures that can only be seen through a microscope. Wigan’s story is touching – he started sculpting as a child, when his dyslexia made school a painful challenge. He says, “I started making houses for ants because I…

Science‘s July issue has an interesting article about mathematician Byron Cook, who teamed up with artist Tauba Auerbach to create nine new mathematical symbols. The symbols were intended to make the notation for Cook’s work on a particular mathematical problem, called the “halting problem,” more intelligible: “When I was giving lectures or talking to product…

I’m still tickled by the British scientists who discovered a cache of ancient squid ink and used it for. . . art: Paleontologists discovered the remains of the creature, called a Belemnotheutis antiquus, during a dig at a Victorian excavation in Trowbridge, Wilts. They cracked open what appeared to be an ordinary looking rock only…

For me, back-to-school shopping was always accompanied by a frisson of anticipation and excitement. It was the only time of year I actually got to go on a shameless shopping spree – which required leaving town and adventuring an hour or two north to find a wider selection of department stores. I didn’t care about…

No, I’m not being rude, I promise! The Gates Foundation is matching DonorsChoose donations to high-need schools. They’ll fund 50% of any classroom project request that prepares students in rural and high-poverty schools for college, up to $4.1 million. Just jump in and pick from a list of projects eligible for matching funds here. Here’s…